kraftiekortie wrote:
Autism, to varying degrees, is a detachment from the social world. There is a relatively permanent desire for solitude.
I agree about detachment from the social world but I don't think all of us desire solitude. Sure some of us, myself included, have a limited desire for social contact and do desire solitude. I never really wanted much social contact. Not even as a child. I would sit inside during recess and read. I ignored friends when my mom arranged play dates. I never had a drive to socialize with other kids. I've always been content alone (
Lone Wolf). My inner world is rich and complex. But I know a few people on the spectrum that very much desire to be social. They are just s**t at it. They overwhelm people. I wonder if the limited desire for social contact is sometimes just the result of all the failed attempts at being social and the mistreatment by NT's? We withdraw.
Anyone ever read The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across The Spectrum, by Temple Grandin? It's fascinating and she does a pretty good job, I think, of describing different things that join us.
One thing she talks about, which is backed consistently in research, is that people with Autism tend to have over developed local synaptic connections, but less developed long range ones. We are wired differently and measurably. Almost to the point they can use it for diagnosis (close, but not yet). The brain tries to adapt to this as it develops with interesting consequences (autistic traits). It's interesting how common certain co-morbids are (the neurological ones) and how many have to do with the same areas of the brain. I have ASD, ADHD, and TS. The ADHD and TS are thought to have to do with Dopamine. There is something fundamental there. Our brains connect us
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I relate to the "Intense World" theory, to which she references and seems to subscribe. It's not the first time I've heard of it, but when she talks about it, it makes a lot of sense. She also talks about people with Autism having an "alternate sensory reality". I won't do it justice. It's worth reading.